On May 11, 1720, Karl Friedrich Jerome Baron von Munchausen, an officer of the Russian army, was born. Personal business Karl Friedrich Jerome von Munhgauzen (1720 - 1797) was born in the Bodenserder, not far from Hanover. He was the fifth child among eight brothers and sisters. Father, Otto von Munchausen, died early when the boy was four years old. When Karl grew up, his mother arranged him in the retinue of the Duke of Braunschweig, where his father once served.